Arafat shrine to be moved to Jerusalem: Abbas

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PA President Mahmoud Abbas (L) arrives for the opening of a museum of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah on November 9, 2014. AFP / Abbas Momani

Published Monday, November 10, 2014

President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the shrine of late President Yasser Arafat will be moved to Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, at the earliest possible opportunity.

Abbas said during a ceremony opening Arafat’s museum in Ramallah that the late Palestinian leader deserves to “remain immortal in the hearts of our people.”

The president added that the museum is a place to be visited by people who do not know Arafat, to get introduced to him and his belongings.

Earlier Sunday, the Fatah movement canceled the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of the PLO chairman in Gaza.

The ceremony, which was scheduled for Tuesday, would have been the first time a commemoration of Arafat's death was allowed in the Strip since Hamas took control in 2007.

"After a series of explosions and assaults against Fatah leaders, we have been notified by Hamas' political and security officials that security services won't be able to take charge of security arrangements during the Arafat anniversary ceremony," said a senior Fatah leader in the Gaza Strip.

Zakariyya al-Agha said in a statement that "Gaza security services asked the workers who were fixing the stage at al-Katiba square in Gaza City to stop working and leave."

A Hamas-affiliated spokesman confirmed the cancellation.

"Due to serious tension amidst the public, and the exchange of accusations after the suspicious explosions in Gaza, as well as other logistic difficulties," Gaza security services will not be able to take charge of security arrangements during the anniversary ceremony, said Iyad al-Buzm, spokesman of the former Hamas-run government's interior ministry.

He added that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has not been communicating with Gaza security services, and that his unity government has not paid any salaries to security officers in Gaza, creating "logistical difficulties."

The Fatah movement said on Saturday that despite a series of blasts Friday targeting Fatah members, it was continuing with preparations for the event.

All Palestinian factions were to take part in the celebrations for the Palestinian leader, who died of mysterious causes on November 11, 2004.

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